Goodbye Diet Coke

After a more than ten year love affair, I have officially split from Diet Coke. I actually cut it out (cold turkey!) about two weeks ago, but I was sure it wouldn't last, so I didn't tell anyone.

 

Surprisingly, I feel great and I don't miss it.

 

I still have my coffee in the morning (K cup, International Delight creamer, and Splenda), but the rest of the day I just drink water. I put lemon or lime in it to make it taste better.

 

If I really need a treat, or something different, I have juice, or occasionally tea (I've been mixing sweet and unsweet, but just one glass and that is usually if I go in somewhere to pick up takeout for lunch).

 

 

{Drinking this now}

 

I've lost about seven pounds in the last two or three weeks, and I am so happy. I was so unhappy with how I looked and how my clothes fit. I want to lose about ten more before the wedding.

 

Happy Friday!!! Hopefully the rain will stay away so everyone can enjoy the weekend. 

When Your Partner is Long Distance or Travels: My Survival Guide

The first eight months I was dating Nick, we were long distance. I lived in SC, and he lived in NC, although he was rarely home since he travels for his job.

 

In March of 2012, Nick bought a house where I live, and shortly after I moved in. However, he is gone almost every week Monday-Friday, and occasionally weekends as well.

 

I've found a few ways of coping that work for me and I thought I would write them down, if for no other reason than that I can read them later and remember this season of our life.

 

If you can, make a friend with a long distance or traveling significant other. It's not always easy to make friends as an adult, but if you are lucky enough to find such a friend, they are worth their weight in gold. My friendship with my friend Melanie has been extremely helpful. I met Melanie freshman year of college, and knew her casually until we were both bridesmaids in a wedding, and I got to know her better. Like Nick, her husband travels for work. It's nice to have a friend that just gets it. We check in with each other and meet at the gym, and that really helps me to keep from feeling lonely.

 

Having pets helps tremendously when you spend a lot of time solo. I never feel like I am alone when Nick is gone because I'm not-our little zoo {two dogs and a cat} keeps me company. Having a German Shepherd makes me feel a lot safer when I am home alone.

 

Give yourself things to look forward to. Whether it's something with your partner when they return or seeing a friend, having something you are excited about lifts your spirits. If Nick is away during the weekend, I try to make plans with girlfriends or go spend the weekend at my Mom's.

 

Take advantage of your time alone to have me time, watch chick flicks, and do other things that you don't do when your significant other is around. I get Chinese takeout when Nick isn't home, because he doesn't like it.

 

Keep in touch and keep each other as updated on your everyday life as you can. I find this helps to avoid a disconnected feeling. I send Nick texts and pictures of Yadi all the time. He couldn't be home on Halloween, so we used Facetime so he could see the dogs "helping" me hand out candy, and I got a few trick-or-treaters to wave at him.

 

Try to be as flexible as you can. For those of us that are routine oriented that might not come naturally, but learning to roll with the punches is part of life. After we had been dating about three months, Nick had to open a plant in Douglas GA and spent a lot of time there, including weekends. I would pack up Trinket and go down there for the weekend. There was nothing to do there, but we made our own fun! We've also met in the middle for a weekend when he's been out of town for work.

 

Learn to be independent. This isn't very hard for me because I was single, and not even dating, for a long time before Nick. However, I've gotten over some of my prissy ways and learned to drive Nick's truck and cut grass. Those things have been helpful to us both.

 

Don't listen to negativity. We all know nay-sayers. I had a {now ex} friend tell me she thought Nick "wasn't into the relationship" when I was driving to Georgia every weekend because I was going to him and he wasn't coming here. Um, he was working. People also tell me "I wouldn't like it if my man was gone a lot" and "How can you stand that?". Rude.

 

Don't complain or make your partner feel bad about leaving you. Yes, sometimes it can be easy to pout, especially if you are a brat like me. However, I have never cried when Nick's left, and I try not to wallow or feel bad for myself.

 

I would love to hear how you deal with your long distance relationship or traveling significant other. Comment and let me know!  

 

Recent Loves

I've been meaning to blog about some new things I'm loving {cosmetics} for a while now. I subscribe to ipsy, and was introduced to both of these from my subscription.

 

Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter. This works better than Mr. Frosty from Benefit or other highlighters that I've tried. It goes on smoothly as it feels a little creamer than most pencils.

 

 

I have super fine baby hair and dry shampoo helps to build some volume. I started using this recently and I love it. I use it on clean hair as I have to wash my hair every day thanks to daily workouts as part of my "bride bootcamp."

 

 

Lastly, I have a new brain candy tv show love. Pretty Wicked Moms on Lifetime. SO funny. I do not watch tv during the semester, so it is a real treat to have free time for this right now.

 

Nicole Noles {the puppy mom} is my favorite. I think she is so beautiful, and her pup Sommer is precious.
 

Have a great rest of your Monday afternoon. I'm hoping it will fly by!



 



The Post in Which I Demonstrate How Men Do Not Know Wedding Lingo

I have to share this with y'all because it gave me a good laugh. On the way back from getting fro yo Saturday evening, I realized I haven't shown my Mom the Save the Dates we're using. The following text conversation ensued.

 

I used to work in public health, so I of all people should have caught that double meaning. I have bride brain.  Nick, of course, is not familiar with wedding lingo.

 

I hope everyone is having a good Tuesday!

Father's Day Weekend

I was very grateful to spend Father's Day weekend in the upstate with my Pop and the rest of my family.

 

{the day I got my car in February 2010}

 

The family that bathes pigs together stays together! I think a more hillbilly sentence has never been written.

 

 {William pre-bath, please excuse the dirt caked on him}

 

 

William is my Mom's micro-mini pig. He is darling. Those are little boat toys in his redneck bathtub and he really does play with them.

 

I hope everyone has a great Monday and that five o'clock is here before we know it.

 





My BFF and Bridesmaid

This week my sweet BFF and bridesmaid Jessie got terrible chest pain and was admitted to the hospital with what turned out to be blood clots in her lungs. I am very thankful to report that she is going home today.

 

{Jessie and Steve Spurrier}

 

{My 28th surprise birthday party at my old job the Islander}

 

{Sheryl Crow concert 2002}

 

I'm praying that she continues to feel better once she gets home and that there are no more health complications. Jessie is one of the most genuinely nice and least selfish people I've ever met.

 

I'm leaving work early to get my hair done and I am so ready. I will be in the upstate to celebrate Father's Day with my family and I'm looking forward to a Great Gatsby movie and fro yo outing with my Mom. I hope everyone has a great Father's Day weekend!





Midweek Randoms

1. Summer is really here and it is HOT. I mowed the front yard last night and the after effects were not pretty. Nothing lady like about how I looked after that ordeal.

 

2. We have tomatoes!!

 

3. My work is participating in a program within our community where we have a high school student come work in our office for two weeks. I got my student on Monday. It works out really well timing wise, because my boss is on vacation and summers are so slow here that I am often alone in the office. Its been a little creepy at times (like the time there was a bum in the building and the police came and couldn't find the person....are they still in here hiding?). At first I really didn't have enough to keep my student busy, but I cleaned out a bunch of old files and have been having her shred. She is a little shredding machine. She's been working so hard I am afraid I'm in violation of child labor laws! 

 

4. Mad Men has been SO good and I can't believe we are almost at the end of this season.

 

Happy Thursday!

Tropical Depression

Right now I can literally hear the rain pounding outside my office. Needless to say, I am over Tropical Storm Andrea and ready to see the sunshine again. I think I've forgotten what it looks like by now.
 

 

{my rainy commute this morning}

 

I have more sick leave than I will ever use before I quit this job to do my clinicals, so I probably shouldn't have even gotten out in this mess today. I would feel bad calling in sick, so I guess that is why I'm here.

 

I wish I was snuggled up on the couch with my pups watching the Sex and the City marathon E! is running today. In case you are living under a rock and haven't already seen it on every social media outlet, fifteen years ago today the first episode of Sex and the City premiered.  

 

I have the best memories of watching S&TC and The Sopranos with my Mom in our old house. We watched when they were originally on HBO, they were not the same on reruns.

 

I can still vividly remember the first episode of S&TC I saw that really clicked with me (I think this would have been '02) and I can still remember watching the final episode with my Mom in '04.

 

 

I like the early seasons the best. I think I must have watched "Twenty-Something Girls vs. Thirty-Something Women" a million times. Do you have a favorite episode?

Maybe I am getting old, but I don't get Girls and I don't really think its the new S&TC. I don't get the Hannah fans either. Put some pants on that girl! I've barely tried to watch the show and it seems like she's always half naked.

 

Hopefully I can still catch some of the marathon when I get home from work. I hope everyone has a terrific weekend!

 

"No tropical depression gonna steal my sun away

Mmm, I feel lucky today"

-Mary Chapin Carpenter



Movie Night

I've been sick all week, so I haven't done much except for go to work. I had been doing so good at going to the gym, even going on my lunch break, so I'm mad that this has derailed me.

 

Last night the dogs and I had a movie night. We got Safe Haven from Red Box and all piled up on the couch with blankets. 

 

Let me tell y'all it is SO good!! I am talking The Notebook good.

 

I read the book when it came out, so I knew the entire story, and I still ugly cried. I thought Julianne Hough was great in it too.

 

 

A movie hasn't made me ugly cry like that since Steel Magnolias, or maybe P.S. I Love You.

 

Today I am going back to the gym and I can't wait. I've been using the "Lose It!" app on my phone to track what I'm eating and I haven't been going over my allotted calories (except for the day I went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch). I'm ready to see some results so I can go try on wedding dresses again.

 

Have a good (and dry) Thursday! Tropical Storm Andrea needs to head on out, this monsoon is ridiculous.

Our First Boating Adventure

I have to brag and say I am so proud of Nick for all the hard work he put into our boat. We used her for the first time this weekend. She is running great and everything is coming along with her restoration.

 

Yadi had his first lake adventure and he absolutely loved it. I want to get him a lifejacket soon, so please let me know if you know of any good K9 lifejackets.

 

 

I named our boat Savannah Leigh. The summer I was 13/14 I read Pat Conroy's Prince of Tides and loved it. Our mare was due to foal that coming spring, and I was going to name her foal Savannah Leigh, after the Savannah in the book. The baby horse was a boy, and is named Echo (my Mom still has him), so I recycled the name for our boat.

 

Speaking of Pat Conroy, how am I just now finding out that the house from The Great Santini and another favorite of mine, The Big Chill is for sale?!

 

 

Would you not just love to live there?

 

If I was already an SLP, and not a graduate student, I would be trying to find a way to make this ours.

 

I would love to one day own a vacation home in Beaufort. Nick has never been and I hope we can go this summer.

 

Have a terrific Monday.